CALL TO JOIN THE WOMEN'S GLOBAL STRIKE ON 8 MARCH 2000.
Dear sisters, we invite you, your relatives, friends and colleagues to join
the Global Women's Strike on International Women's Day, 8 March 2000. You
may already be part of the World March organised by La Federation des
Femmes de Quebec/The Federation of Women in Quebec, Canada. We are
too. We have written to them, and they welcomed our proposal that we
combine our events and support each other. The strike was called almost a
year ago by the National Women's Council of Ireland, and was made global by
the International Wages for Housework Campaign and the International Women
Count Network which Wages for Housework co-ordinates.
MOST OF THE WORK WOMEN DO IS UNWAGED, UNRECOGNISED AND UNVALUED.
The Strike focusses on women's enormous contribution to every society and
every economy. Women make the world go round, and raise and look after its
entire population; but most of the work we do is unwaged, unrecognised and
unvalued. This lack of economic and social recognition is a fundamental
sexist injustice which devalues women and everything women do, including
keeping our wages 25%-50% below men's. In fact, though a few women are now
in highly paid managerial positions, the gap between women's and men's
wages is growing.
WE ARE CALLING FOR A MILLENNIUM WHICH VALUES ALL WOMEN'S WORK AND ALL
WOMEN'S LIVES.
Women and girls need and deserve a reduction of our workload, and financial
recognition for our enormous contribution. Less work, more time, more
resources.
A strike is the best way to make visible women's contribution, needs and
demands, because WHEN WOMEN STOP, EVERYTHING STOPS! Women have taken
strike action before - from Iceland in 1975, to a decade of Time Off for
Women in 24 countries (24 October 1985-1994), to Switzerland in 1991 and
Mexico in 1999 . . . Such actions have won increased recognition for all
the work women do, waged and unwaged, and more bargaining power for our
demands - from pay equity to welfare benefits and childcare.
WE ARE NOT STRIKING FOR A FEW WOMEN TO RISE IN THE HIERARCHY.
We have had enough of pinning our hopes on women who urged us to support
their rise in the economic and political hierarchy with the promise that
when they had attained powerful positions our needs would be addressed. In
fact, women who have climbed the power ladder have all too often been used
against us, to disguise the attempt by governments to sacrifice our lives
on the altar of the "global market". Just as people everywhere are
accusing governments of not representing any of us against corporate greed,
we are accusing women in governments of not representing women. We as a
movement are learning not to confuse the personal ambitions of some women
with the road to all women's liberation and the complete transformation of
society.
WE MUST CHANGE THE WORLD'S PRIORITIES
As the year 2000 approaches, more and more people are aware that such a
transformation is vital: the world cannot go on as it is. From war, famine
and disease to global warming and other ecological devastation, racism and
every other kind of exploitation - high tech has not increased happiness
and well-being for the great majority of us, and has often had terrifying
consequences, as protests against the arms trade, genetically modified
foods, NAFTA and the World Trade Organisation have highlighted. It is not
the money that's lacking but the political will to change the world's
priorities. Global figures on military spending - $700 billion a year -
compared to spending for essentials for living - $20 billion - demonstrate
that for all to see.
OUR DEMANDS
There are many ways that women can get the money and resources we are
owed. Add your own demands to this list.
- The abolition of "Third World debt". The work women do - massively
increased by structural adjustment programmes imposed by the International
Monetary Fund - has more than repaid the debt. How can "loans" a few
decades old compare with 500 years of colonial theft and genocide?
- Accessible clean drinking water and ecologically sound technology for
every household - we all deserve cookers, fridges, washing machines,
computers . . . just because we're poor doesn't mean we have fewer needs.
- Affordable and accessible housing and transportation.
- Protection against all violence - at home, in the factory, in the office,
on the farm, on the street . . .
- Pay equity for all - equal pay for work of equal value internationally.
- Wages for caring work, whether in the family or not. What work is more
valuable than raising children and caring for others?
- Paid maternity leave, breastfeeding breaks and other benefits that
recognise women's biological work rather than penalising us for being women.
- Women in Ireland are demanding that International Women's Day, 8 March,
should be a paid public holiday every year starting in 2000.
SUPPORT AND PUBLICITY
